Auld Lang Syne
by T2 Angel
Summary: It's New Years Eve. Max has isolated herself from her friends, even Terry, for the past few days and no one knows why. Terry finds her and they talk, leading to the reason for her self-imposed exile and to something more between the best friends. Terry/Max. One-Shot. MY 6OTH FAN FICTION!


**A/N: HAPPY NEW YEAR, MINASAN!**

**I hope you guys this brand new one-shot! THIS IS MY 60TH POSTED STORY! YAY! LEEEEEEET'S PARTY!**

**Enjoy!**

**DISCLAMIER: I do not know the rights to Batman Beyond or the movie that I reference in this story. They are the rights of their respective owners.**

* * *

Terry tried calling Max again but again it went to voicemail so he left her another. He was just about to start patrol, standing in the Batcave with his uniform on, sans his mask. He wanted to try and talk her now as, with it being New Year's Eve, it could turn into a busy night.

"Slag it," the teen said as he hung the phone up.

"Any luck?" Bruce asked as he walked up with Terry's mask.

"Nope." Terry took the mask from his mentor and slid it on. "It's weird. She's been acting funny for the past few days. I haven't been able to really talk to her."

"Well, nothing you can do. Go to work and figure it out later."

"Yeah." He walked toward the Batmobile. He stopped and turned back toward his mentor, "Uh, Bruce…"

"I'm not tracking her phone."

"Yeah, figured that was a long shot."

Bruce groaned. "If you have no trouble… well, _real_ trouble after two hours, you can call her again."

"You're giving me permission?"

"You're gonna do it anyway."

Terry smiled. "See you later, Bruce."

"Be careful."

"Aren't I always? Don't answer that."

Bruce just grunted.

* * *

Two hours came and went and, for New Year's Eve, it was surprisingly calm in Gotham. Terry was still cruising around in the Batmobile, being watchful for any trouble. Since it was clear for now, he went ahead and tried calling Max again. However, again, it went straight to voicemail. He growled and hit his head back against the chair. '_Max, where are you? What's going on?_' He looked back out of over the city and listened to the police scanner. He decided to make another call.

"_Terry!_" Chelsea said in a cheery voice. "_What's up?_"

"Hey, Chels. What are you doing?"

"_Getting ready for Jerrod's party. Are you still going?_"

"Yeah, I'll be there after I finish helping Mr. Wayne with some stuff."

"_Schway! So, what's up?_"

"I still haven't been able to get ahold of Max. What about you?"

"_Nope. Not since she said that day at the restaurant when she got that phone call and took off._" She exhaled. "_I wish she would talk to one of us._"

He sighed. "Me, too." He paused. "Hey, I'm gonna go look for her after I get through with Mr. Wayne. I'll try to be at the party after that. Okay?"

"_Sure. But, hey, Terry?_"

"Yeah?"

"_Don't worry about that. If you find her and you need to be with her, go where you're needed. I've got you covered._"

"Right. Thanks."

"_Don't know why I'm talking. It's not like I have to tell you to be there for her. You always are. No matter what._"

He caught something in her tone when she said that. "Wait. Hold up."

"_Yes?_"

"Chels, what does that mean?"

"_It means that you're _always_ there for her, Terry._"

"Yeah, we hang out more since me and Dana broke up but…"

"_No, I mean before then. You're the friend that none of us could be to her. It's just been, like, a lot more since you and Dana broke up._"

He paused. "You don't think that me and Max…"

"_No, it would've been obvious by now. And that's only because Max tends to suck at hiding how she feels about something._"

"That's true." He found an alert on the police scanner. "Hey, Chels, I gotta go. Mr. Wayne needs my help with something."

"_Alright. Take care of Max. I got your back with everything else._"

He chuckled. "Thanks." He ended the call and flew off to follow the trouble.

* * *

It was just passed midnight and Terry was looking at the fireworks go off around the city from atop a skyscraper. It made him smile to see a new year and, with his job, it was a grand relief, as well. He had taken down Spellbinder earlier, who was trying to hypnotize a group of rich partygoers into transferring their money to him. Routine mission but Spellbinder proved himself to be a bit of a challenge. Still, after that, he stayed on patrol for another half hour and nothing else really happened.

Terry sighed. "All in all, not a bad night."

"_Not a bad New Year's Eve for Gotham,_" Bruce added. "_We've certainly had a lot worse around here._"

"I remember the stories. Like the time Killer Croc went rampaging through downtown."

"_Don't remind me. That was the one time I could swear I didn't have enough medical materials in the cave._"

Terry chuckled then he sighed. "Well, since things are so quiet, I hope you know where I want to go."

"_I can imagine._"

"I just wanna see about her. I'll get right back on patrol after I'm sure she's okay. Deal?"

The expected silence, ridicule, or outright disapproval was broken by Bruce saying, "_If you find her, stay with her unless I call you. Make sure she's alright._"

Terry was stunned. "Do you mean that?"

"_Yes._"

Terry tried to get a grasped on what he just heard. This was so unlike Bruce but he was grateful. He finally exhaled, "Wow. Um… okay. Thanks, Bruce."

"_You're welcome._"

"I'm headed to her house now."

"_You might wanna try Deb's Diner on 43__rd__ Street first._"

That left Terry skeptical. "How do you know that?"

"_I tracked her phone._"

"Wait. You said that you weren't going to."

"_I changed my mind._"

"But, how could you track it? It's off."

"_She turned it on for about a minute. I tracked where she was when it was on last. That was about a half hour ago._"

"How did you know her phone was on? What? Did you have a constant tracker on it to be ready for when it came back on?"

"_Yes._"

Terry was flabbergasted. "Why?"

"_Call it curiosity. That and you won't shut up about it._"

"Are you sure that's the only reason?"

"_Look, it's past midnight and there isn't really that much happening right now. Chances are nothing else will. See if she's there and make sure she's okay._"

Terry smirked. "Didn't know you cared."

"_Just do it._"

Terry paused. His smirk turned into a full blown smile as he realized something. "You really like her, don't you?"

"_Drop it._"

"Alright, alright. Headed out."

"_Fine._"

"And, hey, Bruce?"

"_What?_"

Terry smiled. "Happy New Year."

Bruce chuckled. "_Happy New Year._" He ended the transmission.

Terry chuckled and headed off to find Max.

* * *

Max sat at a booth in Deb's Diner, staring at her coco. She'd been there over an hour and had only taken two sips and barely a bite of the slice of lemon cake she bought. This was the third time that she needed her drink reheated but, fortunately, the ladies at the diner were very nice to her. She kept looking up at random moments to examine her surroundings and the hardest thing for her to see was a family of four sitting nearby, laughing and talking. She felt a tear slide down her cheek and quickly wiped it away. She let out a shuddered exhale and looked out of the window; fireworks were going off like crazy in the sky. All the world was cheering about the New Year and she couldn't feel more alone.

'_Some New Year this turned out to be,_' she thought to herself. She just stared out of the window, oblivious of anyone else as she wished how she had been able to talk to her friends. At least, that way, no matter what she was going through, she wouldn't have to do it alone. She really wished someone could be with her right now. She wanted her best friend here with her now. He always made her loneliest moments feel not as bad. She felt bad that she didn't talk to him more in the past few days. She figured he was either partying or keeping the city safe. Either way, he didn't have time for a friend who didn't even call him back.

"Curaré," Terry said.

She snapped out of her stupor at the sound of his voice. She looked at his reflection in the mirror. She turned to face him, confirming he was real. "Terry?"

He smiled, warmly. "Hey, Max. Happy New Year."

His smile actually made her smirk. She let out a relieved exhale, almost wanting to cry. "Happy New Year." Though she'd been keeping away from him, nothing could make her happier than to see him right now. "How'd you find me?"

"An old bat told me," he answered as he sat down.

"How'd _he_ find me? Better question: _why_ was he looking?"

"I stopped asking those questions. But, ya know… I think he likes you."

She smirked and rolled her eyes, "Yeah, right. That'll be the day." She thought about his original greeting. "Curaré?"

"The last time you looked this depressed. It was because of Curaré."

She remembered that incident. "Oh, yeah. I was mess that night."

"So, why are you a mess now?"

"Who says I am?"

"Aside from the almost week of not returning mine or Chelsea's phone calls?"

She winced as she felt bad. "Yeah, aside from that. Sorry."

"No worries. But the clincher, to answer your question, is the fact that this lemon cake is still here."

She looked down at it. "Yeah… guess it is."

"Seriously, what's up? Where have you been? And what's been going on?"

"Just… stuff."

He raised an eyebrow. "Gee. I'm satisfied. I guess I'll leave now." He didn't move an inch.

She scoffed.

"Ya gotta do better than that, Gibson."

She stared at him in silence. She wanted to tell him but she kept thinking it was too petty and pathetic to talk about. He dealt with real problems and this was nothing compared to what he had to go through on a nightly basis. She shook her head and looked away, "You don't want to hear me complain about my silly life."

He stared at her confused for a few seconds then looked behind him, staring intently. He then began moving around, like he was searching for something. He even pushed himself up on one knee in the booth to look around.

"What are you doing?" she finally asked.

"Looking for who you're talking to."

She scoffed. And, actually, giggled.

He turned back around. "You always complain to me because that's our thing. We gripe to each other about school, friends, dating, and supervillains."

"You just blurted that out."

"Means nothing in Gotham since it's on the news, like, every day."

She shrugged, "Good point."

"So, out with it. What's wrong?"

She sighed. She should've known better. Of course, he would understand and want to talk to her. She couldn't think of anyone else who would. "Okay." She took a deep breath. "It's my dad."

Just like that, so much made sense. Terry knew that Max and her father weren't on the best of terms. From the sound of things, nothing about that situation had improved. In fact, clearly, things had gotten worse. "What happened?" he asked.

She sighed. "When you, me, and Chelsea were hanging out, that was him who called." She stopped. "He's back in Gotham."

"Whoa."

"Yeah." She took another deep breath. "But… that's not the kicker."

"I'm a little afraid to ask what is."

"Believe me, I hated to hear it." She stopped. "He's married."

"Ohhhh…" he groaned, lowly.

"To a woman in her twenties."

"Ohhhh!" he groaned louder.

"With a kid who's two."

That last bombshell was just too much. He just stared at her in silence, slack jawed for a full minute.

She sighed, "You took the words right out of my mouth."

"Holy slag, Max."

"Yeah."

"Wait, when did he move back?"

She paused. "When he got married. A year ago."

He tried to figure out the timeline in his head. "So, wait, if the kid is two and he got married…" He paused as his eyes went wide. "Oh, boy."

"Kinda killed Christmas for me. And after I got such a schway computer and video games."

Making jokes were her defense mechanism. He knew that better than anyone and it was unnecessary. "You don't have to do that."

She knew she was caught. She forgot that he took the time to learn all of her defenses. She looked at the table, "Yeah." She looked up at him. "Yeah, I know. Sorry."

"It's okay."

She looked outside then back at Terry. "I know it's cold but… will you walk with me? I just need some air and to clear my head."

"Sure. Are you gonna be warm enough?"

"Yeah. Good coat." She smiled. "You got it for me."

He shrugged, "It gets cold in this city."

She giggled lightly. "You gonna be warm enough?"

He smirked and pointed at his jacket, "Double layered. You can fry a turkey in this thing." He put on a sly smirk, "Besides… the cold never bothered me anyway."

She bit back a laugh. "I sometimes hate that I told you that I love that movie."

He shrugged and they started to move out of the booth, "It is a good one."

"Yeah, it is. And, just so you know, I wasn't really complaining. You always can make me laugh."

He smiled. "Happy to be of service."

They left the diner, Terry paying for Max's unfinished meal. They were both dressed for the snows of Gotham, complete with scarves and gloves to help increase the warmth that their respective coats provided. They walked through a nearby park as a few more fireworks went off.

"They're still going, huh?" she asked.

"Yeah," he answered. "I heard that they are going to keep going off and on with a grand finale at 1."

"Why?"

He chuckled, "Heck if I know. There are supposed to be some concerts downtown that started at midnight as party of a whole New Year's Extravaganza. The fireworks that went off right at midnight were just a prelude to the real show."

She looked at her watch. "Well, 1 is about fifteen minutes away." She sighed. "Too bad we can't see it all from a better…" Her eyes went wide. "Oh, my God, Terry!"

He looked at her, surprised. "What?"

"Jerrod's party!"

He was relieved that was all she was talking about. "Oh, that." He waved her off. "Forget it."

"Ah, Terry… c'mon! Tell me you didn't…"

"Hey. Parties happen all the time. Besides, Chelsea knows where I am. If I make it, I make it. If I don't, which I clearly won't, it's okay. Plus, she wanted to make sure you were okay, too."

"She's a good friend. You, too." She felt guilty. He missed a probably great party to see about her. "But it's almost 1. I made you miss everything. A whole New Year's party and you're here. Sorry this is how you're bringing it in."

He nudged her, "Hey! I'm getting to be around you. That's a win for me."

She smiled. "You know… I'm really lucky I have you."

"Right back at you."

She huffed out a breath, looking at the results of the cold air appear in front of her. She just stared at the air, the start of tears forming in her eyes.

"Thinking about it again?" He could tell this issue with her father was back preying on her mind. He couldn't blame her.

She stopped walking, causing him to stop. "Yeah."

"So, let it out."

She looked at him and walked over to a nearby bridge railing. She looked over the park. Before, she would have been reluctant on his offer but this was building up too much and she wanted to let it out. "I just… I don't get it, ya know?"

"Yeah, I can understand that." He leaned one elbow on the railing as he looked at her.

"I mean… I'm his daughter, too. I'm supposed to be family. Why? Why didn't he tell me anything that was going on? Why didn't he even tell me he moved back?"

He shrugged, "Maybe he was too embarrassed."

"That makes it worse."

"Point."

She clenched her jaw as she thought about all of things she wanted to say to her father. "He's such a coward! I mean… I get it: it's his life. I really have no say in it. Whatever happened between him and Mom, me and Melissa got the worst of it. But what does he do? He doesn't try to keep in touch with the children he has. He gets a new family… with a woman, like, half his age! And what do his first children get? A half-acknowledgement we exist through a slaggin' phone call a year after he's back home!"

She was seething with anger, practically shaking. And not because of the cold. Terry was stunned; he'd never seen Max like this.

"I mean, he just goes off and gets a brand new family. He's in town for a year and can't pick up a slaggin' phone to tell his youngest child where he is!" She stopped. "Oh, I'm sorry! _Middle_ child!" She stopped to take a few breaths to calm herself down. "What about me? What do I get?"

Terry just bowed his head and looked around as he could only imagine how she felt. Despite how he lost his father, he didn't have nearly any of the questions about him that Max had about hers.

"Why am I always left out? How come I'm the one who ends up with no family? Who gets left out of the loop?" She couldn't think of any more to say. It all was still a bit too much.

Terry looked back at her. "If it helps…"

She looked up at him.

He smirked. "I like to keep you in the loop."

She paused for a few seconds. She smiled. "Well… I guess you're better than nothing."

He chuckled, shaking his head. "Thanks. I'm quite touched."

She looked down at his hand he placed on the railing and put her hand on top of his. "It was a joke." She looked at him. "You always keep in the loop. And you're family to me. No, that's wrong. You're more than family. Way more. I hope you know that."

"I know. I was just teasing."

"Thank you, Terry… for always being there."

He took her hand and squeezed it. "Thank you for always being there."

She moved closer to him and hugged him, tightly. He wrapped his arms around her, pulling her close. She gave him a quick kiss on the cheek then rested her head on his shoulder.

"I don't know what I'd do without you," she whispered.

He smirked. "I'd probably be failing and lying a ditch somewhere. In that order."

She scoffed. "Don't do that. If you're not there, my list of friends and people I trust is gonna get really small."

"I better be a lot more careful, then."

"Please do." They broke the hug and she looked up at him. "I don't want to find out where I'd be without you."

"For the record, the same is true for me, too."

They both leaned on the railing, resting their elbows and forearms on it. They stood in a comfortable silence as the occasional firework went off before them and some faint music could be heard coming from downtown. Max enjoyed the peaceful moment and looked over at Terry. She was really thankful he found her. She moved closer and wrapped herself around left arm. He looked at her, a little surprised by the motion, but he had no desire nor want to move her. He couldn't think of a reason to; not that that he was even trying to conceive one.

She rested her head against shoulder. "I know I made a deal about it before but… do you have to go to the party?"

"Nope," he answered. "Didn't really wanna go, if you weren't going. Chelsea will cover for me and I can make up an excuse."

"How about someone just needed you more?" She looked at him. "Good enough?"

He looked at her. "Better than anything I could come up with." They both went back to looking at the city.

"Thanks, Terry. Just… for you. Thanks."

"Anytime."

1 AM was drawing closer; they were nearly a whole hour into the New Year and things seemed so different for both of them. Just this moment and how they got here proved it. There was no thrill, no adventure; the common jokes between them were there but there so much more. Max started to think about that, if anyone was ever going to always be there for her, it was Terry. Terry didn't mind sacrificing even the slightest bit of time he had for a social life. Max came first in Terry's mind, always.

Max thought about how Terry had been there for her tonight. Bruce may have found but Terry could've just confirmed she was okay and gone about his night. But he didn't; that's what Max noticed more than anything. He stayed with her, like every other time.

This moment and so many like it came to her and pulled at her heart strings but in the best way possible. Nothing like she had been through the past few days. She wanted to act on it; even if it had the possibility to be wrong, she wanted to try. "Hey, Terry?"

"Hmm?" he responded.

She looked at him. "Can I ask a huge favor?"

He looked back at her. "What's that?"

"Let me kiss you."

He didn't show any surprise to this. After all, a similar thought was running through his mind. "You don't usually ask. You just do things."

"I know. But… you've gone above and beyond the call of duty today. Besides, I want my New Year's kiss."

He stared at her. "Is that the only reason?"

Any other time, she would've made a joke out of that. But not today. "No. It's really not."

He didn't say anything else. He leaned closer and she pushed herself up on her toes. Their lips met just as the fireworks off like crazy all around them as _Auld Lang Syne_ echoed through the park. They kissed for a long time before separating from each other.

Max had a lot to think about with her father but she didn't care about it right now. All that mattered was who she mattered so very much to. "Thanks for coming after me."

"Anytime. Every time."

She let another tear fall and bit her lip. "Happy New Year, Terry."

He smiled at her. "Happy New Year, Max."

They looked at the fireworks continue over the city. Max wrapped herself around Terry's torso as he put his arm around her. The New Year was here and they were greatly looking forward to what it would bring, especially considering what it had already brought.

* * *

**A/N: So, what did you guys think? I hope you guys liked it!  
**

**From the bottom of my heart, thank you all for sticking with me through all of these stories! Have an awesome 2015!**

**Matane, Minasan!**

**T2 Angel**


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